Perfect Pairings

When I cook dinner, I usually go with something Asian or something non-Asian. But beyond that, there's really not much thought as to pairing dishes that match each other unless we're having company. Sometimes, though, things just fall into place on their own. Today was one of those days, and the result was unexpectedly luxurious.

Grass-fed ribeye steak and a bottle of wine. The wine is this week's dark horse prize winner. I went to K&L Wines last week and told one of their staff that I'm tired of drinking California cabs with intense ripe fruit flavor. He pointed me towards a 1999 Renaissance Cabernet Sauvignon from, of all places, Yuba CA (near Sacramento). $30 for a 10 year old wine intrigued me, so I took the bait. WOW! J and I both love this wine. It's showing its age well and has a tight dry structure with soft fruit and light tannins. Best of all, because of its age, it doesn't have that intense alcohol shock that younger California wines have. I called K&L back to order a case of it, and the guy on the phone told me it's one of the best values in California right now and a great wine to cellar for the next 5 years.

Steak: the easiest thing int he world if you start out with a good piece of meat and a heavy pan (preferably a cast iron pan). Take the steak out of the fridge at least an hour before cooking so that it's not icy cold. Rub it all over with coarse salt and pepper, and heat the pan until it's rip roaringly hot. Sear on each side for three to four minutes, then let it rest for five minutes before slicing. I could eat this almost every day.

Salad dressing: it's one of those things that mystifies people, but I promise it's better when it's not from a jar. Get a jar with a lid and throw in the following:

• 1/8 cup of oil
• 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar (or vinegar of choice)
• 1 clove VERY fresh garlic, grated
• 2 teaspoons total fresh herbs (oregano, thympe, and parsley are good choices)
• a few cracks of ground pepper
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 heaping tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon mayo (optional, but it helps bind the ingredients)

Put the lid back on the jar and shake hard. You'll end up with this:

Creamy, fragrant, zesty salad dressing. Better than anything out of a jar, and the recipe above makes enough for about a head of lettuce.

Then you pour it over a salad. But you knew that already, right?

We also finished up our blue cheese and fig wheel, which both went surprisingly well with the wine. I have to talk about the wine again. It's a 100% cabernet sauvignon, which is rare. Its flavors kept changing and mellowing out after it aerated, and it stood up to the beef, blue cheese, and even garlic salad dressing. We've always shied away from older wines because they're so expensive, but old wines are valuable for a reason. We've been wanting to cut back on drinking so much wine in favor of drinking better wine, but lucky for us we found the best of both worlds in Renaissance. I'm not sure why K&L was selling if for $30; it's $50 everywhere else!